Ray D’Arcy says he was ‘blindsided’ by RTÉ’s decision to not renew his contract

Broadcaster Ray D'Arcy has said he was "blindsided" by RTÉ’s decision not to renew his contract.

Speaking to The Irish Times, D'Arcy said he was placed in an "unsustainable" position, having been told not to tell his team or listeners about his pending departure.

He said a senior manager at RTÉ agreed with him that the broadcaster had been “brutal” in the way it treated him.

When speaking to The Irish Times, the former Radio 1 presenter rejected claims by RTÉ’s head of audio that he had been given advance notice that he was being dropped by the broadcaster.

He was “completely blindsided” by RTÉ’s decision to not renew his contract, claiming he was asked by the national broadcaster to not tell his team or listeners about the development.

In an interview with The Irish Times, RTÉ’s director of audio, Patricia Monahan, said D’Arcy was given three months’ notice that his contract would not be renewed after it expired on December 31st.

Monahan said all presenters were warned that no contract was guaranteed to be renewed when she took up the role last year. However, D’Arcy disputes this, saying there was “no forewarning”.

In a statement, the presenter said he met Monahan on September 29th to discuss his contract.

“I was told it was not going to be renewed. I was completely blindsided. There had been no forewarning," D'Arcy said.